


thirty minutes

by thelittleglaceon



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (now a full fledged fic), Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gender Dysphoria, Implied/Referenced Depression, Maybe angst, Mutual Pining, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-14 13:36:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16493570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittleglaceon/pseuds/thelittleglaceon
Summary: Being a pizza deliverer did have its perks, he supposed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> based on an idea created with a friend

It seemed akin to some odd sort of destiny that everything that could go wrong, in fact, would go wrong.

Three hours behind schedule and seven angry customer complaints in the past month, Shuichi knew that his entire livelihood depended on his next week's performance. Being lucky enough to score a job in this over crowded college town, even if was simply delivering pizzas, was something that he was eternally thankful for. College, by no means, was within affordability to him, and it wasn't as if his internship at his uncle's detective agency was paying any bills. While minimum wage wasn't necessarily living glamorously, it still took Shuichi two full months continuously looking, as well as Kaito's insistent badgering to his boss.

Four months later, it seemed as if Shuichi finally was able to make a sizable dent into his student loans.

However, no matter of gratuity could fix the pure and unadulterated fact that Shuichi wasn't good at his job, and it didn't seem as if he was going to start to be. It wasn't as if he wasn't trying, because his coworkers could definitely vouch for that, but pizza delivering wasn't a perfect fit for his personality.

Juggling college and his internship surely wasn't giving him any favors either.

Despite that, he still wished to be able to pay for his college education by himself. While his parents would've donated the money in a heartbeat, it wasn't like Shuichi to gracefully accept anyone's help, no matter the situation. He wanted to earn his position, both as a detective and as a capable adult, and the idea of allowing anyone to do the work for him felt unforgivable.

Yet it certainly would've been the easier route...

If taking the money from his parents would've allowed him to avoid that entire situation completely, Shuichi wasn't sure what seemed like the better option at the time.

When delivering, sometimes his incessant knocking wasn't heard - and, hell, after a while Shuichi knew that not knocking annoyingly wasn't an option. (He even had a system. Knock loud five times, wait, and then knock another fives times. Wait a minute and then call the phone number.) Most of the time, customers couldn't hear because there was some sort of obnoxious party going on, loud music and yelling included, or the customer fell asleep. And, well, midnight deliveries were full of those scenarios more than they were not.

_30 minutes or it's free..._

He wondered how many pizza delivery drivers have had panic attacks over that same slogan.

That same slogan is what had brought him the doors of a small apartment complex on campus for the second time that night, holding a box of lukewarm pizza and a smaller box full of fresh bread sticks. If the customer wasn't satisfied with the extra amount of food they were getting, Shuichi assumed they'd be pleased knowing that both the bread sticks and pizza were being taken out of his next check.

At three in the morning with heavy drops of rain hitting every surface on him, and his next class taking place in six hours, all he could think about was how he was going to apologize to the customer for taking so long. 

Hoping the anxiety medication he took ten minutes ago would kick in soon, Shuichi took a deep breath and pounded on the door with all of the strength left in his overworked body.

 _God_ , Shuichi thought to himself, _I really hope no one I know answers the door. They probably won't keep talking to me knowing just how terrible of a worker I am. Better yet, I'm going to be yelled at by some upperclassmen in one of my classes, his friends all watching him and laughing how he's going to make a fool out of me and then later talk to the rest of their friend group about the shitty pizza delivery guy._

_What if they don't even answer?_

The door suddenly opens bringing Shuichi out of his thoughts immediately. The smell of spiced cider filled his senses immediately, and a shorter girl with blonde hair was in his viewpoint.

"Finally." The girl immediately says, the expression on her face unreadable.  
  
"Ah, I-" Shuichi stopped himself before he could blurt out anything too embarrassing. "I'm so sorry for the wait on your pizza order.... I tried calling earlier, but... Anyways, that's... I..."

"Here." He extended his arms out to hand her the two boxes, "It's on the house for tonight. Thirty minutes or less, you know."

The girl furrowed her eyebrows together, but her look was filled concern. She took a moment to stare at the drenched detective before grabbing the boxes out of his hands gently.

"Do you want to come inside...?" It was phrased as a question, but her voice was assertive and demanding, "You're completely drenched."

Shuichi stared at her, dumbfounded. 

"C'mon." She opened her door wider, moving her position so there'd be enough room for him to come inside. "I think I have some old clothes that could fit you. You're gonna keep getting more wet the longer you stay out there."

"I-" Shuichi started, not knowing what to do.

"You look like a wet dog." She offered a shy smile, "At least let me get you a towel before you leave."

Without feeling fully conscious of his actions, Shuichi followed the blonde girl inside her apartment. Smell of cider filled his senses again, this time stronger, and it was only then he realized just how cold he was. 

Was it adrenaline and the fear of being yelled at that kept off the cold?

The girl set down the two pizza boxes onto a small coffee table in the room and told Shuichi to wait as she'd go grab him some towels. After she finished, she immediately vanished from out of his sight. 

He rubbed his hands against his bare arms, trying in vain to regain some sort of warmth. Maybe the rush of anxiety and adrenaline had caused him to avoid the cold, but now that he was in a heated room and the moment he'd been dreading had passed, he was now forced to confront his physical situation. 

It didn't help that he felt himself dripping water droplets onto the girl's carpeted floors.

Shuichi looked around the room cautiously, trying to see if it was even a good idea that he entered inside a customer's house. It wasn't as if he had never done it before, but he definitely couldn't say he had stayed inside _after_ handing them their food.

It just seemed like it was a simple apartment, admittedly though the only thing he could really see where he was standing was the front room and parts of the kitchen that connected. The only thing that seemed different from her apartment versus any one else's was the large grand piano in the corner of the room. 

Most college students didn't keep a piano in their room, right?

"Here," the girl interrupted his thoughts, throwing a bright pink towel at him. "I grabbed a few extra just in case you still needed them. If you're able to, I grabbed some clothes you could change into as well."

Before he could really think about what he was going to say, he opened his mouth. 

"Why?"

She looked surprised, "Why what?"

"Why are you being so nice?"

The girl stared at him for a moment before she began to shake her head. "My bathroom the nearest door to your left. You're welcome to use it for as long as you need. I have a heated blanket, too." 

Shuichi glanced at the towel in his hands. The texture of it felt nice on his cold and shaking hands... (Wait, he was shaking? When did that happen?) He took a deep breath and nodded.

"I..." He started, "Thank you."

"It's no problem." She gave him a shy smile.

Shuichi moved towards the bathroom she pointed towards, accepting the shirt and sweatpants she had in her hands. 

Without even knowing his name, this stranger had gracefully accepted him into her home. Not even acknowledging the fact on how late it was on a school night, in her eyes he was just the shitty pizza delivery guy who was an hour and a half late to arrive. Yet, this girl had done nothing but show him kindness and offered him a place to hide from the rain. 

After quickly drying himself off and putting on the spare clothes she handed him, he made sure to take the time to wipe down any surface that he might've accidentally gotten wet. She was right about one thing - he was drenched. It made sense, honestly, considering he spent the better part of an hour running around in the downpour.

He opened up the bathroom door to see the girl sitting down on the ground eating a piece of cheese pizza.

She turned her head around to see him and patted the area next to her.

"Do you need to be going anytime soon?" She asked after swallowing what was in her mouth. "You're welcome to stay the night or, well, at least until the rain goes."

"No, I..." Shuichi bit his lip, "I should be going soon. I need to get back to work..."

The girl patted the spot next to her again, the sound of her hand against the floor echoed across the room, a determined look suddenly appeared in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want some pizza? It's actually not that cold. I have some warm drinks, too, if that's something that suit you better."

After a moment of hesitation, Shuichi finally caved in and slowly moved towards the girl sitting on the floor. He sat himself a few inches apart from where she had pointed towards, in order not to invade her personal space.

"My name is Kaede." She said, another smile on her face. "Thanks for the pizza."

"I'm Shuichi." 

"It's nice to meet you, Shuichi." Kaede beamed, her entire attitude different from a few minutes ago.

It's another few moments before either of them speaks up again.

"Can I ask you something, Kae... Kaede?"

"Shoot."

Shuichi takes a deep breath. "Why did you let me in? I, well, we're complete strangers... I did a horrible job and made you wait for hours for your food, and it's probably all cold by now... I surely couldn't have done anything that deserved that sort of kindness. I..."

"Don't worry about it." Kaede interrupts, her focus now solely concentrated on him. "I don't know if you know, but you were soaked head to toe in rain water. I couldn't have yelled at you like that, despite however hungry I might've been."

A cold shiver ran down Shuichi's back after she says that last bit, and he wasn't sure if that's from the cold or the embarrassment he feels, or a combination of the two. Kaede must've noticed an odd expression appear on his face because she started softly laughing, moving her hand to cover her mouth.

It's a nice sound.

Shuichi even found himself to start to smile.

"I'm not a good pizza delivery guy..." Shuichi admitted, moving his focus towards his hands on the carpet. "I've gotten a lot of complaints this last month. I got the job from one of my close friends, and I was actually really lucky because of that. Without him, I doubt I'd still be employed there this long. I probably wouldn't even have a job... It's not like they're hiring a lot here."

"But still..." Shuichi continued. "I can never seem to get things quite right. I've been trying the best I can, and even putting in extra hours when I need to, but I can tell my boss is starting to get frustrated with me. I have a hard time talking to people anyways, but I knew that this was one of my only chances of employment..."

"I already deal with a lot of anxiety, so job hunting right now already seems overwhelming and difficult, but being fired would look horrible on any other job applications. I'm interning with my uncle at his detective agency, too, as well as juggling being a full-time student... I feel as if I have no time for myself or my friends anymore due to the hours they put me on, both at the agency and at my job, yet it's not like I can quit any of those."  
  
"Kaito and Maki would be completely fine without me, too... I need them much more than they'd ever need me." Shuichi sighed deeply. "I feel like I'm the most useless person in the world sometimes. I can't even do a simple job right..."  
  
In realization of his words, he started to adamantly shake his head, his cheeks start to flush with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I... You most likely didn't want to hear all of my personal problems, huh?"

Watching Shuichi talk, Kaede finished off the last of her pizza slice.

"Quit."

"Huh?"  
  
Kaede ran a hand through her hair, sighing. "I know it's not that easy to find another job, but... It seems like it's just not suited for you. Besides, they're making you work at almost four in the morning on a Tuesday, like... That's dumb. Aren't you a college student, too? Do you have classes tomorrow?"

Shuichi nodded.

"When does your shift end tonight?"  
  
"Five-thirty in the morning," Shuichi shook his head.

Kaede stared at him. "You've got to be kidding, right?"  
  
"I should probably go soon..." Shuichi said, not being able to help feel his spirits go down drastically.  
  
"You don't have to." Kaede said quickly. "I know we just met and all, but you're seriously welcome to stay here for the night. I have heated blankets, hot cocoa, all of that... You seem like you need all that heat you can get."  
  
"While your job is important and all," Kaede began to say. "I think that it would be more beneficial to you, and your job, if you clocked out a little early and were able to get some rest. I may seem like a crazy murderer, but I can promise you that I've never murdered anyone in my life yet. And, well, I doubt I could kill you."

She paused, taking a moment to think.  
  
"...Besides, you looked like you need a friend."  
  
Shuichi's eyes widened in shock of her sudden confession.  "I-"

"So starting today, Shuichi, you've just now become best friends with the piano freak. I hope that fits your schedule from now on. Now you've got to balance work, internships, school, and going to lunch with the coolest musician you'll ever meet."

While the notion of all of that would seem daunting with anyone else, for some reason Kaede's presence calmed him. It was as if she believed that he could do that, even if it seemed overwhelming. No one had ever supported him in such a... A definite way before.

"I know we're just strangers now but.... Hey, that's how friendships work, right?"

"I..." Shuichi took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I'd like to be friends, if you'd like to."  
  
Kaede smiled brightly. "I'd really like that, Shuichi."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be a one-shot but i guess it's not anymore

"Shuichi," Kaito said, his mouth full of greasy Chinese food, "You seem different. Like something happened."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Maki took sent a harsh glare to the taller male, displeasure painting her features. "Kaito, don't eat with your mouth full. It's disgusting."

"Maki," Kaito paused, taking a moment to swallow his food, "Sorry, sorry. I got excited."

Maki shook her head and ignored his apology, deciding to focus her attention on stabbing her vegetables. Her fork started to bend in her vicious attack against broccoli, and it's clear that there was something on her mind. Kaito easily sensed the tension between the three of them, looking towards Maki with an apologetic look.

She didn't show any signs of interest.

"Kaito," Shuichi said, trying to break the silence. "What were you saying?"

"Oh!" Kaito immediately brightened up. "I was saying that something seemed different about ya. And not in the 'Shuichi is hanging out in his dorm trying to avoid life' sort of different. Like, a happy sort of different."

"I agree." Maki chimed in, still avoiding direct eye contact between the both of them.

Shuichi stared at him, not sure if he should feel offended or pleased that his friends paid so much attention to him. 

"Although..." Kaito trailed off. "I'm not sure why you're acting so happy after you got fired."

Definitely offended. 

The small girl looked up towards Kaito in pure shock, then quickly turned her head towards Shuichi, "You got fired?"

He nodded.

Why did nobody tell me about this? I thought you said that your financial liberty depends on whether or not you could keep your stupid job as a pizza delivery boy. How did you even get fired?"

"Ah," Shuichi started. "I... I-"

Kaito cut him off, "He didn't show up last Tuesday after going to deliver to a customer he forgot about earlier. Or, at least, that's all the information I was able to get between him and our boss."

"You didn't show up?" Maki questioned. "Why?"

"It's..." Shuichi paused. "It's hard to explain."

"That job had been eating at him for a while, Maki Roll," Kaito offered after a moment of quiet. "I don't blame him for just walking out like that..."

"But it's not like you." Kaito and Maki both said. 

Shuichi tried to force out a small smile, but his voice was filled with a bittersweet tone. "I honestly don't even know where to start."

"Then just start talking." Maki offered.

"It's a lot harder than that, I..." Shuichi said, "I just... It wasn't in my intention to get fired... But I did realize that not showing up could lead me towards that."

Kaito ravenously shoved more food into his mouth, but nodded to show that he was still paying attention. Maki's food was ignored completely, her focus entirely onto the detective. Shuichi knew just from the look of their stares that there would be no simple way to get out of this situation without telling every single detail.

And so he did.

"Well, I..." Shuichi started, readying himself to spill all the details of what had happened on Tuesday.

For some reason, it still didn't feel like what happened was real. The fact that some random person invited them into their home, offered him shelter from the rain, a place to stay until he needed to go... That wasn't normal. It wasn't, right? Despite the proof sitting right in his contacts, the events from two nights prior still felt like a fever dream.

"Hold on a second, Shuichi," Kaito interrupted, bring Shuichi out of his thoughts, "You can tell us when you're ready, right? There's no need to force any story out right now."

"Kaito." Maki hesitated, watching Kaito's eyes land on her curiously. "...Shuichi. tell us eventually. We're your friends."

"I know." Shuichi offered a shy smile. "Thank you for caring. I-I'll try to tell you guys when I'm actually able to understand what happened."

Kaito and Maki shared a look with each other, then turned towards Shuichi. Kaito gave Shuichi a thumbs-up while Maki simply sighed, going back to picking at her food. At the end of the day, it was just like any other hangout between the three of them. 

No matter what happened, it would always be like that.

"So, guys," Kaito started, forgetting that he shouldn't eat with his mouth full, "I heard there's a football game this Saturday."

Maki glared at him. "Of course you know. You're on the football team."

"I was wondering," Kaito paused to swallow, effectively ignoring Maki's complaints. "If you two wanted to come see it. It's at seven. I invited some of the other guys to come too."

The two started bickering loudly, causing a few stray customers to look towards their table. They all stood out like a sore thumb.

Struggling to contain a laugh, Shuichi started to put his focus back towards his food, now lukewarm.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zoe doesn't know where the fuck this is going - chapter three of i dont even know this was supposed to be a oneshot

New contact.

Two simple words repeated in Shuichi's mind over, and over, again.

He couldn't help but reopen the contacts app on his phone, stare at the name listed under his recently added contacts, and pause.  He wasn't sure if he should call the number, send them a text message, or list it as a hopeless cause and simply press the delete button. 

After what seemed like hours, he'd close his phone, doing none of the above. 

Shuichi still couldn't believe that had actually happened. 

If not for the phone number that dwelled on his mind for hours, he would've doubted that it actually did. Maybe chalked it up to insomniac delusions, sleep deprived hallucinations that his brain would create right before he had fallen asleep. It seemed like something he could've thought of, and it was just unrealistic enough that he could've convinced himself that it hadn't happened.

But it had.

Kaede, the girl that smelled like cinnamon and apple cider, was, in fact, not a creation of his imagination.

She was a girl, a girl with a warm smile and a kind heart - and some really soft heated blankets.

He remembers during his time with her, and how he kept apologizing to the blonde girl, for intruding in on such a late hour and then bothering her with his personal problems. She simply just shook her head and smiled. 

Shuichi remembers accidentally falling asleep on her floor, the heated blanket on him turned to the highest setting.

When he woke up, he was on the couch with more blankets on top of him and a pillow underneath his head. The smell of bacon filled the entire apartment.

The heated blanket was turned off.

Despite being a detective for one of the most well known agencies in Japan, Shuichi still couldn't find an answer to why. Why some stranger welcomed him into their home, and why they treated him with such kindness and hospitality. That wasn't normal, far from it. He kept wondering on and on about it, figuring he'd get an answer sooner or later, but two weeks later he still hasn't come any farther from the exact same explanation he had when he stood at the girl's front door.

In his moments of trying to obtain an answer, Shuichi felt as if he had wrote and rewrote enough words in his text messages to write at least seven or eight English essays. No matter how hard he tried, it was difficult for him to try to explain the way he felt or the questions he wanted answers to. He tried to view it as interrogating a potential criminal for further information, but when he thought of that he felt bad for viewing her as anything other than kind.

Of course, no messages had been sent - the interactions between the two were nonexistent.

It was tempting for him to call Kaede, try to get an answer to the question that was one of the reasons why he stayed up at night. Despite his inability to speak clearly when nervous, he was start getting desperate for an answer. In his eyes, there was no reason whatsoever for her to have not just taken the pizza out of his hands and slammed the door in his face. It's not like the two had any prior connections or had noticed each other around campus before.

She was just some stranger, a stranger that was failed by his shitty pizza delivering.

And he was now approximately seventeen minutes and forty-three seconds late for his chemistry class.

Shuichi took another sip of his coffee.

There'd be no point in arrive this late, he tried to reason with himself, that the class was halfway across the campus and he wasn't even finished with the over-sized beverage he had just bought. It was his first time ever being late for that class and it wasn't like he couldn't get the notes from someone else. Rather than stressing himself out by trying to make it to a class he already hated, he could take it easy and try to get a head start on his next class.

He spilled half of his coffee on his white shirt in the process of sprinting to the science building.

Kokichi laughed at the young detective when he arrived.

Apparently the professor hadn't even shown up.

* * *

"I saw Ouma's picture of the new tie dye design you made," Maki said after Shuichi picked up the phone. "I'd say you've done a better job before though."

Shuichi sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. "Did he really?"

"I think I've seen that same pattern on another one of your button downs," Maki paused. "I thought you said that you didn't like the way they turned out."

Fresh out of the shower and with a new and unstained shirt on, Shuichi was finally ready to call that miserable day quits. After the mishap with chemistry class, when arrived to his internship the detective agency said they didn't need his help today. It forced him to finally try to make a dent into the mountain of homework he had, which actually helped him avoid the feedback of the photo Kokichi posted of him.

Kaito tried to call him but Shuichi felt too embarrassed by what had happened to answer. He didn't really feel up to the jokes he'd try to make to make him feel better, nor did he want to deal with his incessant and overbearing optimism. While Kaito Momota was undoubtedly an amazing and kindhearted person, not to mention how he was his best friend, Shuichi already knew that he couldn't handle whatever Kaito was going to say. He made a note to call him in the morning to apologize.

When Shuichi noticed a missed call from Maki, however, he immediately put aside the work he was doing and made sure to call her back.

"I've never been an artistic person," Shuichi said, but his regular "enthusiasm" was clearly lacking from his voice.

Maki sighed. "Do you want me to tell Ouma to take the picture down?"

"No," Shuichi threw his back onto his bed, his feet dangling off the ground. "That's really not necessary. It'll eventually go away, right?"

"I guess." She replied. "If it's bothering you that bad, I can get him-"

"It's okay, Maki," Shuichi interrupted. "It's really not that big of deal."

Maki took a second to reply, the sounds of her shuffling around were audible in Shuichi's ear. He heard her say something along the lines of 'go away' .

"You've been super stressed out, Shuichi," She finally said. "If there's something I can do, then I'll try to do it."

Shuichi was unsure of how to respond, not used to hearing Maki say words of comfort - especially not when they were directed towards him. Of course, the two were close and cared about each other deeply, but Shuichi also doubted that she would talk to him if Kaito wasn't keeping them all together. She didn't call often, nor did she try to make the effort to keep conversation going. It felt like an honor to have her attention for this long.

Not wanting to bore her, but also not wanting to push his personal issues on her, he had difficulties of coming up what to say next.

"Besides that..." Maki interrupted his thinking, "Kaito wanted me to ask if you were going to come to his football game this weekend. He didn't get a clear answer from you beforehand. Just in case you were wondering, he already bought you tickets."

He already knew he was free but he couldn't help the instinct to stare at his calendar.

But it wasn't like he had a job to worry about anymore.

"I..." Shuichi paused, not really knowing how to answer.

Kaito had been trying to get his best friends to visit one of his games since the year started. Both of them did their best to avoid answers and come up with excuses to get out of it, and so far they had done really well. On Shuichi's part, it wasn't like he didn't want to see his best friend succeed at his favorite sport - nor did he want to keep avoiding the topic in order not to hurt his feelings. Sports events had never been Shuichi's best areas, though, and the idea of going to a place with thousands of people screaming just sounded like a migraine ready to happen.

But... It was the last home game of the season, according to Kaito's earlier conversations, and that it wouldn't be that cold if he brought a blanket and wore a sweater.

Going to a football game once wouldn't end his life either, Shuichi thought.

Although that may be preferable.

Shuichi shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I don't want to go either," Maki admitted, her voice quiet. "But I think we should both go. We can go sit in his car if it ends up being too awful, too. I think everyone else will be showing up too."

"I don't mind going," Shuichi said, trying to convince himself that was the way he truly felt. "It'll be fun."

Maki paused. "Are you sure?"

Shuichi nodded, then realized the shorter girl couldn't see him. "Yeah... It honestly can't be that awful, right?"

"I guess we'll just have to see."  
  
Not feeling any reassured, Shuichi tried to force himself to respond. "I guess."

Almost immediately finding out what Shuichi's answer would be, Maki quickly took the time to say her goodbyes and hung up the phone. Shuichi couldn't help the feeling that it seemed like there was still something that she wanted to say, something that she wanted to ask or tell him, but it seems like he wouldn't get to know about it today. Knowing Maki, he assumed he'd hear it eventually.  
  
When Maki's call ended, Shuichi was suddenly brought forth into his reality. He was left alone with nothing but his thoughts and his worsening headache.

To make matters worse, his room was cold.


	4. Chapter 4

“Why do you keep looking at your phone?”

 

It was a harmless question, really, but it caught Shuichi off guard. He threw his phone into his lap, meaninglessly trying to hide what he was doing. He knew the action made him look more suspicious the moment he did it. Maki looked at him, her facial expression confused, but she didn’t comment and rather turned her attention towards the football field.

 

Shuichi felt his face fill with heat, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” Rantaro said, patting Shuichi’s shoulder lightly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

Shuichi shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I-”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” The adventurer responded, brushing off his concerns. “I honestly don’t like football games either. I just accidentally promised Kaito I’d come.”

 

Shuichi glanced at Maki, the disinterest present in her face. Looking around him, while the rest of the group had varying expressions, with some quite involved, but it seemed that the overall tone seemed to be general displeasure. Even Kokichi, the resident teaser of them all, didn’t have much to say. He idly held onto Rantaro’s hand, playing a game on his phone.

 

“Kaito’s a great football player,” Shuichi said, trying to force a smile, “I’m glad I was able to see him play once before the end of this season.”

 

He didn’t bother mentioning how  _ not glad  _ he was that he had forgotten to bring a blanket.

 

“It doesn’t help that his team sucks.” Maki added, not moving her eyes from the game. “If our college had any other good players, maybe this game wouldn’t be so terrible to watch.”

 

“You seem pretty interested in it for someone who hates Kaito  _ and  _ football, Harukawa-san,” Kokichi shot back.

 

Maki moved her head to glare at him, the look in her eyes threatening. “Do you want to die?”

 

Kokichi laughed.

 

The crowd around them started to loudly cheer, blocking off any sort of retort that the two of them would have come back with. Shuichi, despite his ears hurting, felt somewhat relieved. He didn’t want to be directly in between the two of them if they started another fight - especially when that fight was in public, right in front of the rest of his classmates.

 

Cameras were on Kaito as he threw the football across the field, an almost perfect toss that’d give them a much needed point on the scoreboard. 

 

His teammate fumbled it.

 

He heard Rantaro and Maki groan loudly. 

 

Shuichi tried to resist the urge to check his phone, but the anxiety from the crowd kept him restless and on edge. Rather than checking an almost certainly empty notification bar, he tapped Maki on the shoulder and told her that he was going to walk around.

 

“Do you want me to come with you?” Maki wasn’t even trying to hide her concern.

 

“I’m okay,” Shuichi forced out a small smile. “I just need a moment away from this crowd.”

 

Maki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Are you sure? I told you earlier we could hideout in Kaito’s car if everything ended up being too horrible. It’s not like I’m even interested in this game.”

 

He decided not to comment on her obvious lie.

 

“I’ll be back in ten minutes,” Shuichi said, pulling on his jacket, “Do you want anything?”

 

“No,” Maki frowned, but not pushing the topic anymore. “Don’t get lost though.”

 

He quickly asked Rantaro and Kokichi if they needed anything, the latter telling Shuichi he needed him to grab ‘super secret’ from his dorm. Rantaro shook his head at told him to ignore his boyfriend’s antics.

 

When getting away from the bleachers, the cold from the night became only more apparent. While he wasn’t in any dire need of any warmth, he definitely wouldn’t have minded taking the few minutes to walk back to his dorm. He thought about Kaito and Maki, wondered if they’d miss his presence or just be happy for the few minutes alone.

 

Shuichi didn’t want to think about the answer to that question.

 

Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking towards the commissaries area. Even if he couldn’t go home quite yet, it wasn’t like having a shitty cup of coffee was going to hurt his situation.

 

The crowd cheered again, and Shuichi looked towards the screen.

 

Kaito just made a touchdown.

 

He heard someone come up to him, but he paid them no mind.

 

“Momota-kun is a really good player, huh?” A voice asked, penetrating his thoughts, “He’s been doing amazing all night.”

 

“Yeah,” He said subconsciously, “I just wish some of the other players were able to play...” Shuichi trailed off, taking his eyes off of the screen to properly talk to the stranger.

 

Time felt as if had stopped.

 

Shuichi’s eyes widened comically as he stared towards the stranger, feeling that familiar heat from before go straight into his cheeks. If he had felt more aware of himself that night, he’d immediately try to recover a more neutral expression, but instead, Shuichi openly gawked at them.

 

Of all the places he had thought of, he never expected to see  _ her  _ again at a stupid football game. He honestly didn’t that expect he’d ever see her again. 

 

“Were able to play...?” Kaede copied the tone of voice he used, a bright smile on her face.

 

“ _ Kaede _ ?” Shuichi stuttered out, “I-I, uh, I...”

 

Kaede laughed, stopping him from saying anything more. “If you’re talking about how bad the other football players are, I agree. I’ve heard non-stop bitching about them ever since I moved here last month. I honestly thought everyone was being dramatic but, no, we just suck.”

 

“Yeah,” He immediately squeaked out, unable to hide the almost unending anxiousness he felt.

 

“It’s good seeing you again, Shuichi,” Kaede said a bit more quietly, “I was thinking about texting you but I was worried you’d, like, tell me I caused you to lose your job or something.”

 

“No, no,” Shuichi said, trying to keep the anxiety away from his voice. “I got fired but it wasn’t your fault.”

 

Kaede looked shocked, “What, seriously? They fired you? Why?”

 

“Ah, well,” He ran a hand through his hair, “Since I didn’t show up that night, they asked me if I was serious about that job. I kind of, uh, said no.”

 

“You said no?”

 

“Y-Yeah...”

 

Kaede’s entire face lightened up. “That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear that! I was super duper worried these last few weeks that I kind of forced you to, like, risk your job like that.”

 

Shuichi shook his head. “No, I... I wanted to talk to you about that, Kaede. I really appreciated what you did back there.”

 

“What I did?” Kaede looked confused. “What do you mean?”

 

“Inviting me inside, I mean,” Shuichi started. “I know we didn’t know each other that well or anything, but... Allowing me into your home and talking to me... It really helped me figure out my thoughts. I appreciate it a lot.”

 

“Oh! Well...” She scratched her neck, putting her attention towards the ground. “I needed to talk to someone too. I seriously hadn’t left my apartment in, like, four days. Dumb extrovert disease, huh?”

 

Shuichi laughed softly. 

 

“I’m not kidding!” Kaede put her hands on her hips, pouting. “I was actually planning to yell at you but, god, I think I would’ve killed the remnants of life left inside of you.”

 

“I’m still sorry about that,” He wasn’t sure if the blush on his cheeks was from the cold, the embarrassment, or the shame.

 

Kaede waved her hand, “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad we’re friends because of it.”

 

_ Friends...  _ Shuichi repeated back to himself.

 

“Anyways,” Kaede said, moving a piece of hair off of her face, “What happened after you told them no?”

 

“They asked me to come in, collect my belongings, and to give them back my uniform,” Shuichi grimaced at the memory. “My manager gave me my last paycheck and, well, that was it.”

 

Kaede hummed. “Have you been able to find a new job yet?”

 

Shuichi shook his head.

 

“Well,” Kaede paused. “If you need anything, you have my number. I don’t know if I can help you with the job stuff, considering that I’ve never had one before, but I can try to give you advice or be an ear to listen to. It’s not like you don’t know where my house is.”

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” He laughed, a small smile breaking through his face.

 

Another loud cheer erupted from the crowd, the sudden sound making him jump. However, it quickly brought Shuichi out of the daze he felt since Kaede arrived. They both turned to look towards the screen, watching as the opposing team was able to make another point. The scoreboard read twenty-one to seven and even Shuichi, despite not knowing a single thing about the sport, knew that Kaito’s team wasn’t going to win this one.

 

Knowing him, it was likely that he hadn’t given up yet. Kaito’s perseverance was something Shuichi always admired about his best friend. 

 

“Wow,” Kaede whistled, causing Shuichi to turn towards her. “Our team may actually be  _ worse  _ than what everyone had told me about. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

 

Shuichi sighed, “I feel bad for Kaito. It’s obvious how hard he’s trying, how much work he’s dedicated towards this.”

 

“Yeah,” Kaede paused, looking Shuichi in the eyes. “Most scouting agents recognize hard work, though, so it’s not like he’s not gonna get any results back. You can have the best team in the world and still have mediocre players - it’s really about what these guys do even if the odds are stacked against them.”

 

Shuichi looked at her, but the girl’s expression seemed practically unreadable.

 

“I agree.” Shuichi’s voice sounded uncertain.

 

Kaede giggled, “I think that’s what defines most people, honestly. What they’re willing to do, even if situations seem impossible.”

 

Shuichi opened his mouth to say something, although he wasn’t quite sure what. Those words felt directly aimed towards him, her trying to advise him on the little amounts of information she knew, or if Shuichi was viewing this conversation extremely self-centered. Before any words could come out, he felt his phone vibrate.

 

Maki.

 

_ (21:33) Where are you?  _

 

“Shit,” Shuichi said under his breath, having completely forgot about the people waiting for him on the bleachers.

 

Kaede must’ve heard him, she started adjusting her position to see what was going on.

 

“If you need to answer it, go ahead!” Kaede said.

 

He shook his head, turning off the sound on his phone. “I’m here with a few other friends and I, ah, didn’t tell them how long I was gonna be. I should probably start heading back.”

 

For some reason, Shuichi thought Kaede looked disappointed. 

 

“I’m so-”

 

“No!” Kaede bursted out, flailing her hands in front of her, “Don’t be! It’s totally okay!”

 

Her sudden outburst seemed to have drawn some attention from the people around them, Shuichi noticed. Somebody talking to their friends started giggling a moment after, pointing at the Kaede in particular. Kaede seemed to notice the sudden attention as well - her cheeks suddenly turning pink. 

 

She turned her attention towards the ground, “Ah, sorry. That was immature of me.”

 

“Ah, it’s okay,” Shuichi reassured, then quieted his voice. “Those people are just being rude.”

 

Kaede started playing with a loose strand of hair, twirling it around her finger. She made a sound of approval, but her eyes still kept watching the ground.

 

Shuichi felt his phone vibrate again.

 

He put it in his pocket, making a mental note to apologize to Maki for worrying her. 

 

“Kaede,” Shuichi started, “Don’t worry. It’s okay. If people want to laugh, let them. You’re a very free spirited person, it seems, so don’t let what other people think of you affect the way you act.”

 

Kaede looked up towards him, face red and embarrassed. She made a high pitched sound while saying his name, almost like she pouting

 

“You’re embarrassing!” She stuck her tongue out.

 

Shuichi looked at her, feeling slightly stunned at what she said. It wasn’t like this was the first time someone told him that, but...

 

He felt his cheeks heat up.

 

“Ah, no, I’m sorry,” Shuichi said, unsure of how to respond. “I really didn’t mean to do anything weird.”

 

Kaede sighed, “No, I’m being weird... Thank you for being so nice. I appreciate it.”

 

“I get kind of anxious when people start pointing me out,” Kaede admitted, “I don’t mind, like, being the center of attention, but... I don’t like it when it’s bad attention. Like, uh, when people laugh at me for doing something silly or messing up at a recital.”

 

Shuichi nodded. “No, I understand that. I think that most people don’t like that.”

 

“Anyways,” Kaede put her hands in her hoodie’s pockets, “I should probably let you catch up with your friends. I know I should probably get back to mine soon.”

 

“Yeah...” He agreed, not being able to hide the disappointment that laced his voice, “I-It was good seeing you again, Kaede.”

 

Kaede smiled, “Yeah, for sure! Do you maybe wanna get lunch or a coffee one day?”

 

“I’d like that,” Shuichi said shyly.

 

“I’ll text you then!” Kaede’s voice was bubbly and excited, “I’m excited! You still have my number, right?”

 

Shuichi nodded. 

 

“Okay! I’ll see you later then, Shuichi!” Kaede said, the smile on her face only going brighter.

 

“Yeah, see you soon, Kaede,” Shuichi offered a smile shy back, waving as she turned around and started going towards where she was seated.

 

He stood there for a second, watching the blonde girl walk away, and wasn’t sure what to make of just what happened. He couldn’t help but reflect on what had happened a few weeks ago, so seeing her again felt almost unimaginable. Kaede, whenever she was around, felt like pure positivity - almost to the point where it felt blinding.

 

Remembering his phone vibrating, he cautiously opened it up and looked at what it said, praying that Maki wasn’t scolding him for breaking his ten minute promise.

 

_ (21:47) If you’re ever coming back, get me a drink. _

 

Shuichi bought two cups of coffee, but he was unable to keep a smile off of his face.

 

When he came back to where his friends were sitting, there was only a half an hour left of the game. Maki looked slightly annoyed but took the cup of coffee from his hands graciously. Kokichi and Rantaro were playing some game on their phones together, their attentions completely away from the football game in front of them.

 

“Just so you know,” Maki started, taking a sip of the coffee, “That this coffee is actually disgusting.”

 

Shuichi nodded, starting to laugh, “It’s really bad, huh?”

 

“It’s the worst,” She said, taking another sip.

 

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on twitter @icyleaves


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